Hold on
by Anlora
Summary: While fleeing during the Battle of Hogwarts Draco bumps into Luna, who shows him a thing or two.


"Move faster Goyle, Weasley is on our tail!" Draco shouted at his goon as he jumped over fallen paintings and avoided passing spells. Only a foolish Gryffindor would chase and beat up the bloke who insulted his girlfriends while there was a war going on around them.

A shout from behind made him flick his head around only to encounter Goyle petrified on the ground. Draco took out his wand and immobilized Weasley just before disarming Granger who stopped to aid her boyfriend. Despite the fact that no one was following him, he kept running. Seeing Crabbe die had put his mind into motion as he had begun to question his loyalties. But none of that will matter if he gets himself killed.

He passed over Sir Cadogan's painting, who was trying to battle with a blast ended skrewt and found himself in a strangely empty corridor. It was eerie and noticeably colder than the rest of the castle. Draco quickly thought of dementors invading him, sucking away his few remaining pleasant thoughts. Panicking he took a left and began to slow down. It was time to re-evaluate everything he ever thought was good and make a choice. Everyone's time was running out and he was no exception.

A dreamy voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hannah, have you seen Harry? I seem to have lost him in the crowd."

"Luna, there's no one here" said the Hufflepuff shaking her head.

"Oh, I must find him then" Luna stated and began to skip towards Draco's direction.

How could she be so calm when the castle is being destroyed? Her life is at stake and all she wants to do is find that Potter. Surely to confess her undying love or some other nonsense. She did talk a lot about him when she was a prisoner in his manor. But she spoke about other things too. He remembered one night he went downstairs he could hear her telling Ollivander that there was hope and they would be free. Her spirit always remained unbroken. It was truly fascinating how much hope can fit into such a small girl. He continued his way until her voice broke through his rambling thoughts.

"Draco?" Her question quickly caused panic to overcome him. He turned on his heel to run away, but something stopped him. A surprisingly strong had held him back and spun him to face its owner. Luna looked closely into his eyes as if reading his future in them.

"You're scared" She simply said.

"Well there's a war going on Loony! Dying isn't on my to do list." He began to turn again but she insisted on talking and wouldn't let him go.

"No, not that. You're not scared of dying, at least not entirely. It's something else." He was angry enough to storm away but his growing curiosity kept his feet firmly placed in front of her.

"Oh so you can read minds now? You really are a nut case." He took a step forward, daring her to proceed. She countered with a step of her own, still firmly gripping his arm. She had a determined look on her face. Her silvery grey eyes-so similar to his own-never strayed from his face, completely forgetting the chaos that surrounded them.

"I can see it in your eyes. Grey one are bad at covering up hurt and fear, and right now yours are drowning in terror. You aren't really as foul as others think you are."

This statement shocked Draco. "And what on Earth makes you say that?" He honestly inquired, pushing aside all remaining anger.

"I saw how you were at your house, when I was imprisoned there. You were very reluctant to do You-know-who's bidding and that either made you not all that bad or a coward. And I don't think you're a coward."

The wall he put up to keep emotions from displaying on his face fell. "Really? Everyone else does. They think I'm just like my father, feeding off someone else's power."

"Your roots don't control the paths you take in life Draco. Don't let your last name define your life." She smiled innocently as she spoke. He couldn't help but feel a bit more hopeful about everything.

"I-" He began to respond but a flash of green light cut him off as he saw it speed past her ear. He reacted almost instinctively. "RUN!" He shouted and before he knew it her hand was in his as he led them away from a masked Death Eater. Normally he would have been outraged by such disrespect but the Malfoy name did not inspire the fear it once had.

"Crossed over to the good side little Draco?" The taunt came from no other than Alecto Carrow. Her brother couldn't be too far behind. At the thought a loud cackle was heard from his left side and caused him to take a sharp turn, almost making him and Lovegood slip on a pool of blood.

"Did your crazy girlfriend make you? These Malfoy men are such pushovers." Amycus shouted as he and his sister sped behind them.

This only made him run away faster from the siblings. He had learned the hard way to pick his battles and opponents wisely, and he appreciated his life too much to throw it away by responding to some petty insults. Unfortunately Loony had another plan. She stopped in her tracks, pulling Draco with her. Her wand was drawn and she faced the siblings with a devilish smile on her lips and an unfamiliar gleam in her eyes.

"Loon-" He tried to stop her from getting killed but as he reached for her arm she lunged forward.

"CRUCIO!" Amycus was floored with pain as the curse hit him. Draco stood in complete shock. That crazy, goody two shoes had just cast an unforgivable curse on someone. "CRUCIO!" Twice. This time it was Alecto who went down. Draco was completely stunned. Even he-a death eater-shuddered at the thought of those curses and here was this small blonde girl who just cast one twice without even flinching.

"We should probably leave before they get up." She was back to her normal dreamy speech. She skipped towards the bottom of the staircase leaving a dumbfounded Draco behind. How could someone so innocent looking turn into a coldblooded witch and back in ten seconds flat?

"What is wrong with you?" She slowed down at his question. "How can you torture two people and just skip away as if you were just feeding some norgles?"

She looked slightly surprised at the last word he had shouted. "You mean nargles." She corrected. "And I only did that because they said those things about you."

"We're in the middle of a war! My feelings are the lest of my problems right now." He exclaimed. "And besides you shouldn't be risking your neck to defend me. You should probably just go on, my presence will only make you a more tempting target to everyone." He lowered his eyes and started to turn and walk in the other direction. Luna didn't hesitate for a second.

"Stop! I'm not letting you go alone." She caught up to him facing his back waiting for an answer.

He sighed and turned to face her. "Look I don't need your help, I'm a big boy." She shook her head and stepped towards him, a bit too close.

"I'm sure you don't, I only did that because I always protect the people I care about." As the words came out of her mouth she reached for his hand and held it, firmly but sweetly. He returned the gesture with a soft squeeze and an earnest smile.

"Let's go then." He responded as they sped off into uncertainty together.


End file.
